Remington 700 Quality

[dakotakidd]

Looking for a rifle for my soon to be better half. I've always been a Remington 700 guy and I like to tinker with them. This rifle will be kept basically factory, maybe a b&c stock and/or a timney trigger but that's about all. Now the question is, do I spend $570 on a sps then $250 on a stock or do i buy a cdl for about the same price(just over $800)? I'm just wondering if the cdl is a better quality rifle or is it just a glossy blued sps with a walnut stock?

Thinking 7mm-08 or 308. Have a extra vortex hst laying around....should make for a nice little rifle.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Looking for a rifle for my soon to be better half. I've always been a Remington 700 guy and I like to tinker with them. This rifle will be kept basically factory, maybe a b&c stock and/or a timney trigger but that's about all. Now the question is, do I spend $570 on a sps then $250 on a stock or do i buy a cdl for about the same price(just over $800)? I'm just wondering if the cdl is a better quality rifle or is it just a glossy blued sps with a walnut stock?

Thinking 7mm-08 or 308. Have a extra vortex hst laying around....should make for a nice little rifle.

SPS + B&C Medalist stock. It will be a more rugged combo. The CDL is nice, but thin solid wood stocks are known to warp and cause accuracy issues with atmospheric and weather changes.

Also, having the action/stock bedded and the barrel floated will be worth the money, too. A cheap Timney trigger upgrade would also be a worthwhile investment, compared to the stock X-Mark Pro trigger (but I recommend swapping the trigger, no matter which model 700 you buy).

.308 Win is one of my all-time favorites, but I grew up hunting with a 7mm-08, and it's an awesome caliber, too.

 

[dakotakidd]

I agree with you all the way. I'm a big fan of composites and aluminum bedding, I don't own a rifle with a wood stock for just that reason. I just thought if a cdl was a better quality firearm i could toss in some $15 dollar aluminum pillars and call it good. I've owned a few sps before and have had good luck with adding a timney and B&C stock. I have just heard alot of stories about quality issues and figure if I gamble on another one my luck will run out and I'll get a bad one.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I agree with you all the way. I'm a big fan of composites and aluminum bedding, I don't own a rifle with a wood stock for just that reason. I just thought if a cdl was a better quality firearm i could toss in some $15 dollar aluminum pillars and call it good. I've owned a few sps before and have had good luck with adding a timney and B&C stock. I have just heard alot of stories about quality issues and figure if I gamble on another one my luck will run out and I'll get a bad one.

As far as the build and material quality goes, a Remington 700 is a Remington 700....Regardless of whether it is a $379 ADL from Wally World, or a $1,500 Sendero from a premium outfitter. Your difference in price comes from things like SS vs. chrome moly (blued), jeweled bolt, factory installed aftermarket stock, heavy barrel vs. sporter, fluted or non-fluted, ADL vs. BDL, etc...

The only time I can think of that you should see a difference in build-quality or construction quality in a Remington 700, is if you order a custom shop rifle.

The CDL is nothing more than a gloss-finish SPS with a nice wooden stock and a jeweled bolt. They are built the exact same way, by the exact same people, in the exact same factory.

 

[7mmShooter]

Mud just nailed it. And as far as quality issues, you take that gamble with any model or manufacturer. I had an SPS that wouldn't feed right, I've seen a bunch of guys with the 700 LR have the same issue, even seen a few guys with the 5R have issues (which would really tick me off...). It's a crapshoot whether you get a good one or not, some are luckier than others...

 

[dakotakidd]

Sounds good, I think I'll do a sps.
Gun will be used for anything form antelope to elk. I'm a big 30 cal fan but I really like the BC's of the 7mm bullets. What are your thoughts? What is going to push a heavy bullet better for elk (like a 168 or 180 Berger)?

 

[MudRunner2005]

Sounds good, I think I'll do a sps.
Gun will be used for anything form antelope to elk. I'm a big 30 cal fan but I really like the BC's of the 7mm bullets. What are your thoughts? What is going to push a heavy bullet better for elk (like a 168 or 180 Berger)?

They will both push equal weight bullets nearly the same, since they are derived from the same case (.308 Win). However, if you go 7mm-08, you could always have the chamber opened to 7mm-08 Ackley Improved 40°. You will gain some powder capacity, which will in-turn gain you more velocity from the increase in powder charge and the AI case design.

Kenny Jarrett did a write-up about it on their website a while back. Pretty interesting. If I were to build a 7mm-08, it would definitely be the AI version, after reading their results. And for your task, I would load 168 VLD's with your factory barrel. You can try the 180 Hybrids to see if you can get them to stabilize with the 9.25" twist, but with a non-magnum cartridge, that might be tough. The 168's would do fine within a reasonable distance.

When you go to this site, click on 7mm-08 Improved on the right-hand side of the page.

Kenny Jarrett's Pet Calibers | Jarrett Rifles

 

[dakotakidd]

Thanks for the help MudRunner, I think ill lean towards a 7-08....I need alittle diversity in the gun safe! And as far as Ackley imp goes I feel like its almost more of a novelty that an advantage when you look at the gains vs the work put into it. My coyote gun is a slow twist 243 ai so i can sling out 58g vmax near 4000fps....but i cant get it to group at that speed so i toned it back to 3800ish which is within standard 243 velocity....Im in no way an expert( only been reloading since last March) I'm sure with alittle more time and a few different bullets/powders I could prove myself wrong.
But anyhow thanks for the advise. Just had my gunshop get a sps in 7-08 on order!

 

[roninflag]

while I have senderos, and a ti, but I like wood. what does the " soon to be" . I like a bigger one for elk. guess it depend on how often you hunt them. there is the 700 mtn that comes in stainless/syth.

 

[dakotakidd]

while I have senderos, and a ti, but I like wood. what does the " soon to be" . I like a bigger one for elk. guess it depend on how often you hunt them. there is the 700 mtn that comes in stainless/syth.

It's a surprise so she has no say in what she likes better...haha. Maybe I'll be nice and let her pick the color of the b&c stock....as long as its not pink.

 

[dougduey]

I bought an SPS in 7mm STW since it was the only brand new factory built rifle I could find in that caliber. I switched the stock out with a nice H-S Precision stock. This rifle is an absolute tack driver. What started as an extra rifle for fun has turned into one of my favorite rifles to shoot and it's more accurate than my 300 WSM Sako at 1/3-1/2 of the cost.
Just ask Mudrunner, he owns a couple STW's and I believe they are Sendero's

 

[dakotakidd]

I bought an SPS in 7mm STW since it was the only brand new factory built rifle I could find in that caliber. I switched the stock out with a nice H-S Precision stock. This rifle is an absolute tack driver. What started as an extra rifle for fun has turned into one of my favorite rifles to shoot and it's more accurate than my 300 WSM Sako at 1/3-1/2 of the cost.
Just ask Mudrunner, he owns a couple STW's and I believe they are Sendero's

I always was interested by the 7mm stw but at the time I wasn't into reloading and ammo availability didn't seem great. I have a sps in 300 win mag with a bell and carlson alaskan ii stock with a timney trigger and it is really a shooter with 168g vlds. I've never been let down by buying a cheaper remmy 700, it just seems like everyone says my luck will run out and I'll end up with a bad one sometime.

 

[scottishkat]

I really like my CDL SF shoots 1/2 moa all day. Changed the stock to Mcmillan game scout. I have more expensive rifles but this one is at the top of my list to go hunt with. The wood stocks are a bit skimpy B&C will be less expensive than the game scout.

Good luck and shoot straight

Bob